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Belka, "The Strong Beam"
Belka Belka is an independent civilization located within Celtia. It is an open-trade egalitarian society situated in what is known as "Struem Smia" or Sacred Reach, east of the map. They are relatively peaceful and do not engage with other civilization; unless they are provoked. Belka is notable for its leaders, the High Matriarchs, The Round Council and other esteemed noblefolks. Belka is also known for rituals such as the Gundestrup, the proving of its members and its strong taboos against sacrilege of religion. It is surrounded by the Blaenavon Mountains to the west, meaning; "Great Heights". The Bay of Tregaron is located to the east, large hills coat the South and the North is coated with delicate plains. The country's official language is Lochbrokkr ("Men who dwell within the Loch, and works with metals." The most numerous ethnic group are the Belkans, who constitute between 97% of the population. Ethnic minorites include the aboriginal, Neekonisiwin, "Brotherhood". They are a sub-culture of the Belkans, but speak a minority language. They are treated fairly well by the Belkans, and given the same privilages as a normal citizen of Belka would possess. Economics At the time this wiki was released, Belka relied on a specific form of economics. They relied on Bartering which is a system of exchange where goods or services are directly exchanged for other goods or services without using a medium of exchange, such as money. When bartering with foreigners, however; most of the Bartering will be implicated in "Silent Bartering". This is a method by which traders who cannot speak each other's language can trade without talking. Barter can also occur in Belka's own commercial markets; since Bartering is a difficult way of effectively conducting trade. It will occur during times where the barter symbolically denotes a special social relationship and is used in well defined conditions. Resources and Natural Resources: Agriculture remained by far the most important part of the Belkan economy during this period. There remained a wide variety in Belkan agriculture, These included wheat, beans, barley, peas and oats and more. Most farmers had a spring and a fall crop. The spring crop often produced barley and beans while the fall crop produced wheat and rye. The wheat and rye were used for bread or sold to make money. The oats were usually used to feed livestock. The barley was often used was used for beer. These crops were often influenced by local geography; in areas where grain could not be grown, other resources were exploited instead. Farming in Belka was controlled by the weather. One night of bad frost could mean a whole year of bad crops. Certain rituals and procedures also had to be performed throughout the year to ensure a satisfactory crop. A farmer’s crop, no matter the season, always had to be monitored. The Shaman's Agricultural Circle will often bless the crop and hope for a good harvest. They partake in placing incense, at the entrance of the farm to ward off evil spirits. Farmers only had a rudimentary knowledge of fertilizers. Thus, each year only an average of twothirds of a farmer’s land was usually cultivated. The other third of the land lay uncultivated or fallow. The average yield of an acre of farming in the Middle Ages was eight to nine bushels of grain. Some farmers did have methods for fertilizing their soil. A common fertilization technique for farming in the Middle Ages was called marling. For marling, farmers spread clay containing lime carbonate onto their soil. This process restored the nutrients needed to grow crops. Farmers also used manure as fertilizer, which they got from the livestock they raised. There were not many tools used for farming, and the tools available were rather useless. The wooden ploughs used for farming in the Middle Ages barely scratched the ground. Grain was cut with a sickle and grass mown with a scythe. It took an average of five men per day to collect a two acre harvest. Harrowing, or burying seeds, was done with a hand tool resembling a large rake. "Begone immoral demons! Leave this setting! Torment these kin no more; Thou shalt be warded Ioff to the depths of Olcshire!" ~ Shaman warding off evil spirits. Mining Mining initially did not make up a large part of the Belkan medieval economy, but the discovery of stone tools saw an increased demand for metals in the country. At first the metals used came from rocks found on the surface of the Earth, or from the side of the face of cliffs. As demand from bronze grew, people started finding copper in it's purest form. Tin ore, deep beneath mine shafts and caves. Important resources included: Copper, Gold, Silver, Bronze, Tin, Clay, and Minerals such as Rock. The earliest evidence for mining comes from around earlier Belkan-Eras where mine shafts were cut into hills in the Struem Smia. In the heart of Belka itself, we find evidence from Early-Belkan eras, of on-site smelting in crucibles at copper mines. Due to the scattered nature of tin deposits around Belka and its essential nature for the creation of tin bronze, tin trade played an important role in the development of Belka throughout ancient times. A huge emphasis was put unto Gold. Ancient Belkans began mining for gold in pre bronze-era times using open pits and performing minimal underground excavation. Gold fragments were removed from the surrounding quartz via huge stone hammers. Hammer shapes grew more sophisticated in the later Belkan periods, and there is evidence of hydro-metallurgical techniques in use during those times. Prospecting in the central Eastern Desert intensified during later periods, along with the introduction of new stone-milling and gold-washing techniques, with some mining sites employing hundreds of workers. Livestock During the early Belkan periods, Tools and technologies of spinning and weaving were similar to those of the earlier period; it is likely that fine, white wool continued to be produced from sheep introduced from the Nebras region alongside coarser local wools. Dyes included woad for blue and less frequently madder and lichens for reds and purples. Some high-status woollen cloth is found, including gold brocade Any sort of livestock or Cattle was a demonstration of power in the Belkan world and a man's wealth was measured by the number of his herd. The Belkans, domesticated some of the animals around their sphere of control. The Llyanfurs (Cows) would have provided good milk and the bullocks would have been slaughtered for meat. Jotunfur (Sheeps) were skinned for their wool, Jotunfur were not butchered as lambs, for meat. Rather, they were kept alive for wool production and when finally butchered, at a mature age, were prepared as mutton. Mutton and some lamb meat accounted for about a quarter of the total consumption of meat.